It’s impossible not to fall in love with the Campi Flegrei, one of the smaller subregions of Campania wine. I got to know the area on one of my last trips to southern Italy and wanted to share some of my findings with you in this photo travelogue.
This article includes 40 reviews of wines made in the volcanic Campi Flegrei. In truth, two of the wineries presented here—Casa d’Ambra and Scala Fenicia—are from the islands of Ischia and Capri, respectively. I have included them because, well, at least Ischia is part of the same complex volcanic matrix as the Campi Flegrei.
Located west of Naples, with its beautiful chaos, music and honking horns, is the sudden quiet of the Campi Flegrei. The Phlegraean Fields in English, which comes from the Greek for “burning fields,” is a vast area of peninsulas, lakes and islands in the Gulf of Pozzuoli.
This is a relatively unknown part of Italy, but that is a great shame because the Campi Flegrei rivals Italy’s top destinations in terms of sheer natural beauty and exciting things to discover.
The entire area is a vast volcanic system, or a huge caldera, with 24 craters and volcanic edifices, many underwater, in an area that measures 65 square kilometers. Hydrothermal activity, gaseous manifestations and a sort of slow-motion earthquake called bradyseism will excite geologists and thrill-seekers alike.
Even today, there are an average of 66 seismic events each week in the Campi Flegrei.
The Campi Flegrei is a so-called “supervolcano” and one of the most dangerous places on earth. The most violent volcanic activity Europe has seen in 200,000 years was here. More than 40,000 years ago, the Campi Flegrei erupted, causing the Campanian Ignimbrite blast, with a mix of hot gas, volcanic ash and magma. Some 150 square kilometers of magma were extruded, covering most of Campania with the tuffaceous rock and volcanic soils that distinguish the region today. Traces of this eruption were found as far away as Greenland.
The thing that really blows my mind is bradyseism. Because the entire area, and especially the little port town of Pozzuoli, sits atop a magma chamber in a collapsed caldera, the earth is constantly moving. Like a lung that breathes in and out, the magma lifts and falls, stretching Pozzuoli at its seams over the centuries.
Roman ruins at the Macellum Pozzuoli shows bands of mollusks on marble columns, proving that bradyseism moved this ancient marketplace below water at one point.
Today, the movement of the earth’s crust causes the water to fill in or drain out of the tiny fishing harbor of Pozzuoli. Locals tell me that at times the harbor is totally dry.
The heart of Pozzuoli is the Rione Terra neighborhood, which was fully evacuated and emptied of its residents in 1970 because the earthquakes and ongoing bradyseism made many of the buildings unsafe. However, this evacuation is seen as one of the great tragedies of the time. Military vehicles and soldiers arrived one morning with little notice and forcibly moved out entire families, mostly fishermen, relocating them further inland into modern housing.
I met a young journalist named Gemma Russo on my trip. She wrote a fascinating booked entitled Storie dal Rione Terra (“Stories from Rione Terra”), which is a collection of oral histories from the evicted residents.
“A common theme expressed by these people is how much they missed being close to the sea, its colors, its smells, its breezes, after the evacuation,” says Gemma Russo.
After hearing Gemma’s incredibly moving stories, one begins to wonder if perhaps there wasn’t a more cynical ulterior motive for moving all those families out. It’s no coincidence that Rione Terra, despite the earthquakes and the bradyseism, occupies one of the most beautiful spots in the Mediterranean, with a view of the islands and the sea like no other.
This fact did not go unnoticed by the Romans, who built one of their most important colonies, Puteoli, in this location. Connected directly to the elaborate system of ancient Roman roads, Puteoli connects to Ostia, and this artery was very important for commerce and trade. Puteoli grew very affluent with baths, temples, markets and vast entertainment or sporting facilities. The heart of the archeological park is underground, or directly under those abandoned fishermen homes.
In fact, this beautiful area was so outrageously wealthy, the Romans built many of their most extravagant villas and hedonistic summer homes in the Gulf of Pozzuoli between the towns of Baia and Bacoli. Because of bradyseism, those villas eventually lowered underwater and disappeared forever. Today, Baia is popular with snorkelers who dive to see Roman statues and mosaics perfectly entombed in the shallow water. There is a submarine tour that also allows you to peek underwater.
Another unknown site of profound beauty is the Piscina Mirabilis of Bacoli. Built by Roman military legions, it is an enormous water cistern in the Campi Flegrei. Fresh water was brought to the area from as far away as Irpinia, inland in Campania, with an elaborate system of aqueducts.
Some 15 meters high, 70 meters long and 25 meters wide, the Piscina Mirabilis could store an impressive 12,000 cubic meters of water. It is a feat of engineering that is almost impossible to contemplate today.
Of course, where the Romans went, winemaking followed. The Campi Flegrei is a unique wine region thanks to the volcanic landscape and the indigenous grapes found here. It is not a big wine region by any measure, but it is very special.
The area is planted mostly to Falanghina for whites and Piedirosso for reds, and winemaking here can trace its roots back to 700 BCE. Other grapes found here are Biancolella and Coda di Volpe (both whites), or Sciascinoso and Aglianico (reds).
There is an indigenous trellising system used here called alla putuelana, in which a vine is lifted high with a stick. The area is of course home to volcanic sands, gray and yellow tuff rock, compressed ash and volcanic shards, or lapilli.
“Earthquakes and volcanoes are not a problem for us,” says Vincenzo Di Meo of La Sibilla, a leading boutique winery in the Campi Flegrei. “People are the problem,” he continues, repeating a common refrain in this very quiet part of Italy that enjoys being so far off the beaten track.
